In the immediate aftermath of Veyra's retreat, Rei's flame dimmed to a slow pulse—like a heart recovering after exertion. The leyline threads wrapped around his wrist glowed softly, adapting to the new harmonics of his bond with Velka.
He leaned against the remnants of a spirit gate, breath ragged. Across from him, Noira and Eirenne patched broken wards while Mireille rerouted spirit resonance from collapsing timelines.
"You held your ground against a Sovereign designed to remove existence itself," Mireille said, impressed.
Rei managed a weak grin. "I'm getting used to being underestimated."
But even as they rested, Karasu stirred with unease.
"He's already here."
---
Across Realms — The Threshold of the Unspoken
The fabric of space rippled. Not torn. Not shattered.
Muted.
Where other Sovereigns thundered, this one arrived as an absence. The wind ceased. Sound bled out. Color washed away.
In the distance, a cloaked figure stepped across dimensions without portals. His cloak was stitched from forgotten contracts. His face—hidden beneath a pale mask—had no eye slits, no mouth.
He did not speak.
He didn't need to.
The Masked One had arrived.
---
A Silent Field — Preparation
Eirenne gripped her halberd. "Why does the sky feel heavier?"
Velka stepped into the circle. "Because this one doesn't enforce laws. He enforces absence. He doesn't destroy reality—he uninvites it."
Mireille narrowed her eyes. "Can that even be countered?"
Velka turned to Rei. "Only if your memory burns louder than his silence."
Karasu cawed. "He doesn't fight. He unwrites context. He erases reasons to resist. He removes the will before the blow lands."
Rei exhaled. "Then I'll anchor everything I have. Everyone I've ever known. I won't forget the names."
He raised his hand, drawing sigils into the air.
---
New Spirit Technique Activated: Remnant Anchor — Temporal Reforge
> [Effect: Instantly locks current timeline threads around selected memories, resisting Sovereign redaction or silence-based null fields.]
The area pulsed with energy as names—dozens of spirits Rei had encountered, awakened, and remembered—lit up across his body in burning glyphs.
---
First Contact — The Silence Speaks
The Masked One appeared at the edge of the leyline field. No aura. No pressure. But everything bent around him.
Rei stepped forward. The flame flared high, wrapping around his shoulders like a cloak of remembrance.
"You won't erase this," Rei said.
The Masked One raised a hand.
No spell. No attack.
Just... silence.
Suddenly, Rei's memories flickered—Eirenne's voice muted, Noira's laughter distant, Velka's warmth cold.
Karasu screamed: "Anchor now! He's removing relevance—you'll forget why you fight!"
Rei clenched his fists.
"I remember their names!" he shouted.
And one by one, the spirit names flared.
> [Velka. Calen. Aithra. Kael. Eirenne. Noira. Mireille. Karasu.]
The flames blazed. Rei's stance solidified. Meaning returned.
The Masked One paused—as if curious.
Rei dashed forward, his fists cloaked not in fire—but in legacy.
Each strike didn't aim to injure—it affirmed.
"I exist because they do. Because she does. Because we remember!"
---
Clash of Concepts
Where their powers met, color vanished. Silence screamed. But Rei's anchors held—like chain-links forged in myth.
Velka's voice filled him: "Push deeper. Ignite meaning into memory."
Rei drew upon his newest echo—Velka's origin: the First Flame Before Law.
He spoke a word not recorded in any tongue:
> "Akurein."
And the world roared with ancient memory.
The Masked One staggered. His silence cracked—like a shell hit by story.
Rei drove forward, embedding one final strike to the mask.
It splintered.
Within it... a face.
His own.
---
Aftermath — Unraveling the Self
Rei collapsed to one knee. The Masked One faded—but left behind a mirror shard, pulsating.
Velka touched it. "This one was not Sovereign-born. He was fragment-born—an echo of your erased self."
Rei took the shard.
"I must've lost this piece in a timeline that failed."
Karasu muttered, "And they made it a weapon."
Mireille placed a hand on his shoulder. "Then take it back."
Rei closed his hand around the shard.
> [Fragment Reclaimed: Null Self — Passive Skill Gained: Resistance to Conceptual Erasure.]
He looked toward the horizon.
"Three have fallen. How many remain?"
Velka's eyes narrowed.
"Enough to end worlds. But you are no longer just Rei. You are every version of yourself they tried to silence."
And in the distant lattice sky, Alpha watched.